Environmental Sustainability of Solvent Extraction Method in Recycling Marine Plastic Waste

The global plastic production of 400 million tons/year has caused major catastrophes in marine environments. The current study, therefore, aimed to mitigate this challenge through the dissolution–reprecipitation method of eradicating impurities and contaminants from marine plastic debris. The result...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Sustainability 2023-11, Vol.15 (22), p.15742
Main Authors: Ibrahim, Ily Asilah, Khoo, Kuan Shiong, Rawindran, Hemamalini, Lim, Jun Wei, Ng, Hui-Suan, Shahid, Muhammad Kashif, Tong, Woei-Yenn, Hatshan, Mohammad Rafe, Sun, Yi-Ming, Lan, John Chi-Wei, Chan, Yi Jing, Usman, Anwar
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Batch processing
Efficiency
Environmental sustainability
High density polyethylenes
Methods
Plastics
Polyethylene
Polymers
Protection and preservation
Recycling
Solvent extraction processes
Sustainability
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Summary:The global plastic production of 400 million tons/year has caused major catastrophes in marine environments. The current study, therefore, aimed to mitigate this challenge through the dissolution–reprecipitation method of eradicating impurities and contaminants from marine plastic debris. The results revealed that the rate of the dissolution of polyethylene (PE) outweighed polypropylene (PP) at lower temperatures. HDPE (high density polyethylene) and PP had optimal dissolution temperatures of 75 °C and 90 °C at 20 and 30 min, respectively, resulting in recovery percentages of 96.67% and 87.35% when applied to actual marine waste samples. Overall, this recycling method conserved the plastic quality and properties, making it a viable alternative for virgin plastics. The life cycle assessment (LCA) revealed that the drying stage demonstrated the greatest environmental impact within the system. The overall process, however, yielded a lower environmental impact in comparison with established findings. Conclusively, the current study has successfully restored marine plastic waste with high recovery rates and minimum chemical alterations, yielding a low environmental footprint.
ISSN:2071-1050
2071-1050
DOI:10.3390/su152215742